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SCRS: Interactive version of ‘Guide to Repair Planning’ allows automated auto body estimate audits

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SCRS on Thursday announced a software version of its “Guide to Complete Repair Planning” able to automatically audit and optimize body shops’ estimates.

The Society of Collision Repair Specialists’ “Guide to Complete Repair Planning” is a free document listing more than 1,000 operations body shops might miss in preparing an estimate. Much of the work necessary to restore a vehicle back to pre-accident condition isn’t included within estimating system labor times and must be added manually — and as such might be overlooked or forgotten by an estimator.

The guide offers a handy way to address this problem, and the new “Blueprint Optimization Tool” software should make it even easier to produce an accurate estimate.

“The new product has taken the once-static PDF document and evolved it into an intelligent, dynamic and customizable estimate analysis and optimization tool,” SCRS wrote in a news release Thursday. “SCRS has identified the advantages it can provide as a training mechanism for businesses seeking to grow their estimating department and as a solution for the auditing of estimates for thoroughness both before repairs commence and before final billing. It can also be used as a safeguard to ensure everyone within the business is meeting the expected goals of capturing necessary repair operations that have a high degree of impact on estimate accuracy.”

The software-as-a-service product will appear at SEMA next week as an entry in the New Products Showcase. SCRS said it intends to let shops download it from the SCRS.com website in the first quarter of 2020.

The initial version will be compatible with CCC estimates but “will soon be expanded to additional estimating platforms,” according to SCRS.

The entire industry will still be able to access and use the PDF version of the Guide for free. The new Blueprint Optimization Tool software will carry a monthly subscription charge that SCRS plans to discount for members.

“We are beyond excited about the product we are going to share with our members and the industry at large during the SEMA Show next week,” SCRS Chairman Brett Bailey (A&B) said in a statement. “There has been a ton of design and development put into this software resource over the last year and a half, and we are all excited about the potential we believe it will deliver to collision repair shops. There are numerous legitimate repair operations and services our technicians provide that have the potential to go unrecognized on the estimate and final repair order; and we believe this tool is going to make a significant difference in helping to enhance estimate accuracy and ensure collision businesses are not missing line items and operations that are a part of the repair process.”

Auto body shops will be able to set line items, estimate rules and business practices for their chosen estimating system, the trade group said.

“We’ve worked with a top-notch development team with a history of designing products intended to interact with and analyze estimate output,” SCRS board member Michael Bradshaw (K&M Collision) said in a statement. “I think it’s fair to say we’ve all been really impressed in the way this program has evolved from design to implementation. We worked to collect feedback from a broad focus group of estimators that communicated ways they could see the product addressing day to day challenges in estimate consistency and thoroughness, and the development team really outdid themselves with functional responses. I personally cannot wait to put this in use in my own facility.”

For more information about SCRS or the new software, call 877-841-0660, email info@scrs.com or visit www.scrs.com.

More information:

“SCRS to Introduce the Guide to Complete Repair Planning – Blueprint Optimization Tool at 2019 SEMA Show”

Society of Collision Repair Specialists, Oct. 31, 2019

SCRS Guide to Complete Repair Planning

Featured images: The Society of Collision Repair Specialists on Oct. 31, 2019, announced an interactive version of its “Guide to Complete Repair Planning” able to run automated audits of an estimate. The initial version intended to be available in the first quarter of 2020 will be compatible with CCC, but other estimating services are planned too. (Screenshot provided by Society of Collision Repair Specialists)

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